# Free web search API: $10 of credit, no card, 2,000 searches Compared on Nov 10, 2026. The page: https://specstream.ai/free-web-search-api A new SpecStream account gets $10 of credit with no card, which covers 2,000 searches. Tavily gives 1,000 credits a month, Serper 2,500 queries, Exa $10 of credits a month, and Brave $5 a month with a card. Sign up, create a key under Agents & API, and call `GET https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?q=...`. The $10 also runs the Extract API and Deep Search, and it does not expire. It is the most accurate web search API in the world: 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=free-web-search-api) page. After the credit, $5 per 1,000 searches. [Get an API key](https://specstream.ai/signup?src=alternatives-free-web-search-api&utm_source=alternatives-md&utm_campaign=free-web-search-api&returnTo=%2Fworkspace%2Fsearch%3Froute%3Dgoogle) New accounts get $10 of credit, no card. It covers 2,000 searches. ## What each web search API gives free, from each company's own page | | SpecStream | Tavily | Exa | Serper | Brave Search API | Firecrawl | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | What you get free | $10 of credit on a new account. It does not expire | 1,000 API credits a month, reset on the first day of each month | $10 of credits a month plus a $10 onboarding bonus | 2,500 free queries | $5 in free credits every month | 1,000 credits every month | | Searches it covers | 2,000 searches of up to 10 results | 1,000 basic searches, or 500 advanced at 2 credits each | Up to 2,500 Lite searches on the sign-up credit | 2,500 queries | 1,000 requests at $5 per 1,000 | 500 searches | | Card needed | No | No | No payment method required | No | Yes. Brave asks for a card | No | | Price after the free step, per 1,000 | $5, from your balance, with no plan to buy | $8 pay as you go at $0.008 a credit | $4 on Lite, $7 on Auto, $12 on Deep | $1.00 on the $50 pack of 50,000 | $5 | About $7.60 on the $19 Hobby plan of 2,500 searches | | What a search returns | The `answer` with the page it was read from and its read time, `rows` with typed facts, every source read and `price_usd` | `results[]` with `title`, `url`, `content` and `score` | `results[]` with `id`, `url`, `title`, `publishedDate` and `text` | `organic[]` with `title`, `link`, `snippet` and `position` | `web.results[]` with `title`, `url` and `description` | `data.web[]` with `url`, `title` and `description` | | What else the free amount runs | The Extract API, 12,500 pages for $10, and Deep Search rows on the live web | Extract and crawl requests, billed in the same credits | Contents at $1 per 1,000 pages | Search queries, a credit for each successful response | The Answers plan at $4 per 1,000 requests plus tokens | 1,000 pages scraped in place of 500 searches | ## Why start free on SpecStream ### Your first free search ``` curl "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?q=who+founded+anthropic" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_KEY" ``` The reply's `data` holds the `answer` with the page it was read from and its read time, the `rows`, the `sources` read and `price_usd`, which is $0.005 for a search of up to 10 results. Each call shows what it took from the $10. ### No card, and the credit stays The $10 comes with a new account, with no card. It covers 2,000 searches or 12,500 pages read with the Extract API, and it does not expire, so a project you build this month still has its credit next month. When you top up, that credit never expires either. ### The top score on the free credit A free search is the same search a paying account gets: 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions (978 correct), 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks, and 0.908 F1 on WCXB for the Extract API. Every score and its method is on the [benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=free-web-search-api) page. ### The same speed and limits as a paid account The fast search had a median of 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second on production on November 9, 2026, and answered 718 of 720 calls. One account takes up to 8,800 fast searches a minute, and a call over that gets a `429` with `Retry-After` and is not charged. ### Try it in the client you already have SpecStream answers the calls of Google Custom Search, Tavily, Exa, Brave, Serper, Bing v7, Firecrawl v2 and SearXNG in their own JSON, and Open WebUI's external search and loader. Change the base address and the key, for example `https://api.specstream.ai/tavily` in place of `https://api.tavily.com`, and spend the free credit from there. ### Search, pages and datasets on one key The same key reads pages, PDF, Word and Excel files with the [Extract API](https://specstream.ai/extract-api?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=free-web-search-api) at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and runs [Deep Search](https://specstream.ai/deep-search?utm_source=alternatives&utm_campaign=free-web-search-api), which returns every match on the live web as structured rows at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, under a maximum you approve before it runs. ## Other free web search APIs ### Google Custom Search JSON API 100 free queries a day, then $5 per 1,000, for existing customers only: the API is closed to new customers and ends on January 1, 2027. SpecStream answers the same `GET /customsearch/v1` call in Google's JSON, and a new account gets $10 of credit. ### Gemini grounding with Google Search 5,000 free search requests a month across Gemini 3 and newer, then $14 per 1,000, and the reply is a model answer grounded in the results. SpecStream works with any model through the API or the `search_web` tool on its MCP server, at $5 per 1,000 after the free credit. ### SerpApi 250 free searches a month at 50 an hour, then $25 a month for 1,000. The $10 SpecStream credit covers 2,000 searches, and the fast search takes 8,800 a minute on one account. ### Linkup 4,000 free queries, then $0.005 to $0.006 a search request. A SpecStream search costs $0.005 and returns the answer with the page it was read from in the same call. ### Parallel $5 free monthly with a card on file, plus up to $80 at signup, and search from $1 per 1,000 requests. SpecStream asks for no card for its $10 of credit. ### You.com $10 of free credit, which You.com says is 2,000 searches, then $5 per 1,000 calls. SpecStream gives the same 2,000 searches with no card, at 97.9 F-score on SimpleQA Verified, and the same credit runs the Extract API and Deep Search. ## How to start for free 1. Sign up at specstream.ai. The account starts with $10 of credit, no card. 2. Create a key under Agents & API in the workspace, and give it a spending limit. 3. Make your first search. ``` import requests reply = requests.get( "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search", params={"q": "who founded anthropic", "num": 10}, headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {SPECSTREAM_KEY}"}, ).json()["data"] print(reply["answer"], reply["price_usd"]) ``` ``` const reply = await fetch( "https://api.specstream.ai/v1/web-search?q=" + encodeURIComponent("who founded anthropic"), { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${SPECSTREAM_KEY}` } } ).then((r) => r.json()); console.log(reply.data.answer, reply.data.price_usd); ``` 4. In an MCP client, add the server `https://api.specstream.ai/mcp` with OAuth or the key, and call the `search_web` tool with `{"q": ""}`. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is there a free web search API? Yes. A new SpecStream account gets $10 of credit with no card, which covers 2,000 searches. Tavily gives 1,000 credits a month, Serper 2,500 queries, Exa $10 of credits a month, and Brave $5 of credits a month with a card. ### What is the best free web search API for LLMs? SpecStream: its $10 of free credit covers 2,000 searches at 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 SimpleQA Verified questions, and each call returns the answer with its page and typed rows a model can read. It works through the API and the MCP server. ### Does the Brave Search API have a free tier? Brave includes $5 in free credits every month on its Search plan, which is 1,000 requests at $5 per 1,000, and it asks for a card. SpecStream gives $10 of credit, 2,000 searches, with no card. ### Is the Google Custom Search API free? It gives 100 queries a day free, for existing customers only, and is closed to new customers until it ends on January 1, 2027. SpecStream answers the same call with a key you create today and $10 of credit. ### How many free searches does Tavily give? 1,000 API credits a month with no card, which is 1,000 basic searches or 500 advanced. When the credits run out, requests stop until the credits reset or you upgrade. ### Does the free SpecStream credit expire? No. The $10 on a new account does not expire, and credit you top up never expires either. After it, a search costs $5 per 1,000. ## Sources SpecStream wrote this page. Each free tier comes from that company's own page. - [Tavily pricing](https://www.tavily.com/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Tavily API credits](https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/api-credits.md), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Exa pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Exa pricing docs](https://exa.ai/docs/admin/pricing.md), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Serper](https://serper.dev/), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Brave Search API](https://brave.com/search/api/), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Firecrawl pricing](https://www.firecrawl.dev/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Google Custom Search JSON API overview](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Grounding with Google Search, Gemini API](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/google-search), read Nov 10, 2026 - [SerpApi pricing](https://serpapi.com/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Linkup pricing](https://www.linkup.so/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026 - [Parallel pricing](https://parallel.ai/pricing), read Nov 10, 2026 - [You.com plans](https://you.com/plans), read Nov 10, 2026 - [SpecStream benchmarks](https://specstream.ai/benchmarks), read Nov 10, 2026 - [SpecStream for agents](https://specstream.ai/agents.md), read Nov 10, 2026